A National Security Bureau (NSB) plan to establish a new department for cybersecurity in the coming months has received wide support among legislators, but some expressed concerns about security over recruiting “hackers” to work in government offices.
Bureau Director-General Lee Shying-jow (李翔宙) confirmed during a legislative session on Thursday that preparations are under way to recruit computer professionals from the private sector to staff the new cybersecurity unit, which is scheduled to start operating on May 1.
The new unit is to be designated the 7th Department (第七處) of the NSB and will have four working divisions: general services; research and development; countercyberattack; and network system defense.
Photo: CNA
The establishment of the new department represents the largest restructuring the bureau has undergone in two decades, and is seen as an important policy initiative and personal accomplishment of the current bureau chief.
The bureau, which is in charge of national security and intelligence affairs, was established in 1954 as an outgrowth of a division within the Department of Special Affairs in the Presidential Office.
After the lifting of martial law, the bureau’s mandate and organization with six major departments were set out in the Organization Act for the National Security Bureau (國家安全局組織法) of 1994.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) questioned the inherent risks of employing “hackers” to conduct cyberwarfare missions, saying they might pose a threat to national security.
Lee disagreed on the use of the term “hackers,” saying they are “cybersecurity experts.”
“They have already performed some assigned tasks and have done very well. So, we are looking to amend the laws regulating information and communications to fully utilize their talents within the bureau’s framework, without infringing on national security,” Lee said.
Most legislators backed the plan and endorsed a proposal to increase the bureau’s budget and expand its mandate.
Some suggested that Lee recruit members of Taiwanese youth teams who have won top places in international hacking competitions.
However, some lawmakers expressed misgivings about whether these individuals would fit in in a government setting where rules and restrictions abound.
“These skillful computer professionals are highly creative, but they are unrestrained in their ideas and habits,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said. “It would be difficult to properly manage them, which might lead to national security problems.”
“Our government agencies operate with a conservative mindset and in a highly restricted environment,” Tsai said. “It is unlikely that many young netizens and hackers would want to join the 7th Department.”
The bureau currently comprises six major departments, along with an Internal Security Department, a center for information collection and a Special Service Center for the personal protection of the president, vice president and their families.
The six departments are: international intelligence; intelligence operations focused on China; domestic security intelligence; analysis of national strategic intelligence; science and technology intelligence, and communication security; and research and development, and sections for deciphering and cipher code equipment.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STANDING TOGETHER: Amid China’s increasingly aggressive activities, nations must join forces in detecting and dealing with incursions, a Taiwanese official said Two senior Philippine officials and one former official yesterday attended the Taiwan International Ocean Forum in Taipei, the first high-level visit since the Philippines in April lifted a ban on such travel to Taiwan. The Ocean Affairs Council hosted the two-day event at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Coast Guard spokesman Grand Commodore Jay Tarriela and former Philippine Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Michel del Rosario participated in the forum. More than 100 officials, experts and entrepreneurs from 15 nations participated in the forum, which included discussions on countering China’s hybrid warfare
MORE DEMOCRACY: The only solution to Taiwan’s current democratic issues involves more democracy, including Constitutional Court rulings and citizens exercising their civil rights , Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not the “motherland” of the Republic of China (ROC) and has never owned Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. The speech was the third in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to deliver across Taiwan. Taiwan is facing external threats from China, Lai said at a Lions Clubs International banquet in Hsinchu. For example, on June 21 the army detected 12 Chinese aircraft, eight of which entered Taiwanese waters, as well as six Chinese warships that remained in the waters around Taiwan, he said. Beyond military and political intimidation, Taiwan
RSS